The following paragraphs are not an admission that anything discussed in them is prior art or part of the knowledge of persons skilled in the art.
Solid phase microextraction (SPME) is an approach for sample preparation that may be used in various analytical methods. SPME devices include an extraction coating present on a support. The extraction coating includes adsorptive or absorptive particles, which may have different geometries. Exposure of the SPME device directly into a matrix or into its headspace, for a certain period of time, extracts and enriches analytes contained in the sample matrix.
The SPME process is governed by the partitioning of analytes from the matrix onto or into the extraction phase, and extraction efficiency of an analyte depends on the analyte's affinity toward the adsorptive or absorptive particles present in the extraction coating.
After extraction and enrichment of the analytes onto or into the extraction phase, the SPME device may be placed in an analytical device where the analytes are desorbed and analyzed. Alternatively, the analytes may be desorbed separately and analyzed separately.